Explore Official Dialogue Feedback

The main remarks of the participants are as follows. (1) As the population grows, it is necessary to secure animal protein. However, as seafood has less environmental impact than livestock products, there is relatively more room for increasing seafood production. (2) Offshore aquaculture has a high tolerance for absorbing environmental loads and is a proper direction from the viewpoint of sustainability and reduction of environmental loads. (3) In addition to CO2 fixation, the conservation of seagrass beds is an indispensable for water purification, egg production and growth of aquatic organis... Read morems. It is important to respond appropriately to changing environment and to carry out activities in cooperation with fishermen and local residents. (4) As I have been involved in the aquaculture industry for many years, I really feel the rise in seawater temperature associated with global warming. In fact, there are reports of the damage. Reduction of CO2 is a major challenge that we have faced. (5) As blue carbon is an unavoidable issue, the government should move ahead the activities to tackle the issue. In Norway, efforts are under way to use seaweed not only as a CO2 sink but also as a nutrient. Read less

The expression of views of the stakeholders on challenges and opportunities for sustainable food systems associated with the new strategy, “MeaDRI”.

The main remarks of the participants are as follows. (1) Although "Electrification and conversion to fuel cell for fishing boats " has many issues to be tackled, it is an innovation that will definitely be needed in the future. This cannot be helped by fishermen alone and requires support by national government. At the same time, it is necessary to raise awareness of the needs among fishermen. (2) Transforming fishing boats to high-performance and environment-friendly ones will contribute to increasing the employment of young people who will lead the fishing industry in the future. (3)It is in... Read moredispensable for realizing carbon neutral to promote creating seagrass bets and algae and shellfish cultivation as these will promote CO2 fixation through utilizing blue carbon ecosystems and thereby contribute to reduction of environmental loads. (4) It is necessary to develop technology for biodegradable plastic fishing gear and packaging materials without using plastic in the areas of processing, distribution and consumption. (5) Raising consumer awareness on the importance of environmental consideration through the spread of ecolabels will contribute to the sustaining development of Japan's fisheries and fish food culture. (6) For producers and distribution processors, in particular, those who operate small businesses, costs of acquisition and maintenance of ecolabel certification are particularly burdensome. Supports for the development of ecolabel products is also needed. (7) Ensuring a stable food supply through aquaculture is extremely important. For that reason, the raw materials for the feed of farmed fish should be able to be circulated locally. Read less

The expression of views of the stakeholders on challenges and opportunities for sustainable food systems associated with the new strategy, “MeaDRI”.

The main remarks of the participants are as follows. (1) Since wholesalers deal with a large number of manufacturers and retailers, the burden of logistics and data processing is extremely heavy. Because it is necessary to standardize and construct infrastructure for data linkage, we are working to realize it. However, it seems to be difficult to achieve this under the current situation. (2) As the manufacturing industry, wholesale industry and retail industry have been optimizing themselves separately, there are some unoptimized parts within the entire supply chain. We are coordinating betwee... Read moren industries towards data linkage throughout the supply chain. However, it is not easy to change the existing mechanism. In this regard, it is expected that involvement of the government will create transparency and fairness and will be a driving force for efforts. Read less

The expression of views of the stakeholders on challenges and opportunities for sustainable food systems associated with the new strategy, “MeaDRI”.

The main remarks of the participants are as follows. (1) We believe that soil preparation is important to realize labor-saving and low-cost sustainable agriculture without excessive dependence on chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Especially, improvement of soil fertility is important. (2) Regarding organic farming, it is necessary to solve the problem that the hurdle of organic JAS (Japanese Agricultural Standards) is high for the Japanese climate and the value of organic farming products is not accompanied by the cost. We are looking forward to innovation for the solution. (3) How to give ... Read moreadded value as "organic" and how to create a market are important, and the key point is a policy to incentivize consumers to prefer organic agricultural products. In addition, it is important to secure raw materials that do not depend on imports in order to ensure sustainability. As transportation cost is an issue for the use of organic matter, how to promote local production and local consumption is a key point. Read less

The expression of views of the stakeholders on challenges and opportunities for sustainable food systems associated with the new strategy, “MeaDRI”.

The main remarks of the participants are as follows. (1) Approximately 80% of greenhouse gas emissions in the entire supply chain of the food manufacturing industry are caused not through the manufacturing process but by upstream and downstream business partners. Regarding the upstream, it is important for the agriculture, forestry and fisheries industry that produces raw materials to decarbonize the food system. (2) It is important to implement policies that lead to sustainable behavior of corporates, including SMEs which account for the majority of the food manufacturing industry. (3) Food i... Read morendustries associated with food supply chain as a whole should cooperate and collaborate to address environmental issues such as decarbonization and human rights issues. Public-private collaboration under collaboration among governments is important, in addition to raising awareness of Japanese society and industry on the issues as a whole, such as through disseminating National Action Plan (NAP) on Business and Human Rights. (4) When using domestically produced raw materials with consideration for sustainability, shift to an internationally recognized sustainable production methods is important so that domestically produced raw materials can be selected compared to imported raw materials and also can be evaluated when exporting. In addition, it is also important to have a mechanism that allows food manufacturers to confirm and use them. (5) It is important to raise consumer awareness of environment and human rights and thereby increase the recognition and dissemination of the background information on the reason why sustainable manufacturing and procurement are necessary. As the environmentally friendly lifestyle spreads, it becomes important to transform market, such as accepting costs arising from decarbonization and consideration to sustainability. (6) As the time goes on, consumers’ concerns on health and the environment has increased, which has created another value for consumers on soy protein. Against the background, now that the soy protein factory is at full capacity, our impression is that consumers can change their minds over time. Therefore, it is important to examine marketing tools that encourage consumers’ behavior change. (7) In addition to considering the sustainability of the production process, palm oil itself is an issue recently as it contains harmful substances. In this regard, regulations for palm oil are becoming stricter, especially in Europe. Since it takes cost to replace it with alternative oils or remove harmful substances, it is necessary to deal with the issue by such as receiving government supports and/or promoting price pass-through. (8) Europe is often the center of rulemaking. Therefore, the Japanese government should strive to develop international rules so that Japanese companies are not at a disadvantage. (9) There are multiple certification systems for palm oil, etc. It should be possible to make various choices according to various needs. (10) One of the causes of low labor productivity in the food industry is the delay in robotization. Therefore, it is important to innovate business models using technologies such as AI. (11) In order to reduce food loss and waste, it is necessary to optimize trading practices such as easing delivery deadlines and order lead times, forecast demand by using AI, and promote food banks. Read less

The expression of views of the stakeholders on challenges and opportunities for sustainable food systems associated with the new strategy, “MeaDRI”.

The main remarks of the participants are as follows. (1) In order to increase the understanding of society on the cost increase, it is important that the value of agricultural products produced in environmentally friendly manner is recognized. For this purpose, labeling and information disclosure using digital technology are important. (2) Innovation is important for cost reduction. (3) Efficient application of fertilizers and pesticides is important. In order to improve efficiency, the major issues are the consolidation of agricultural land and the outsourcing of work in areas where farmers c... Read moreannot handle it. Read less

The expression of views of the stakeholders on challenges and opportunities for sustainable food systems associated with the new strategy, “MeaDRI”.

The main remarks of the participants are as follows. (1)In Japan, which has different climates and environmental conditions, it is difficult to expand organic farming in grasslands and drylands as in other countries. (2) Although the production technology of organic farming has been almost established, the social environment is still insufficient, which is associated with logistics, distribution of agricultural land, pesticide drift, etc. (3) In order to expand organic farming, it is necessary to first create standards such as a 70% reduction in chemically synthesized materials and thereby att... Read moreract more farmer to organic farming. (4) From mass production and mass consumption, the balance of supply and demand should be adjusted by appropriate production and consumption that incorporates smart agriculture. (5) Many customers are interested not only in organic products but also in sustainable procurement such as fair trade, FSC and MSC. (6) In expanding the market, it is important to increase the opportunities of seeing the organic agricultural products and create an enabling environment where those products can be purchased on a daily basis. (7) The reason why organic JAS (Japanese Agricultural Standards) certification has not been widespread is that while all costs are paid by the producers and they have to be inspected every year, which is costly, there is no guarantee that these organic products can be sold at a price commensurate with the cost. Read less

The expression of views of the stakeholders on challenges and opportunities for sustainable food systems associated with the new strategy, “MeaDRI”.

The main remarks of the participants are as follows. (1) Social concerns in carbon neutrality and environmental protection has significantly risen in recent years. Given this situation, it is important for the pesticide manufacturers to tackle this issue by changing their awareness. (2) In addition to developing chemical pesticides with less environmental burden, it is important to focus on developing biological pesticides and biostimulants. (3) It is important to contribute to the reduction of environmental burden by further developing the technology of coating seeds with pesticides and the s... Read morepraying technology using drones at the production site. (4) Since CO2 is generated when pesticides are manufactured and distributed, it is necessary to proceed with development with carbon neutrality in mind, such as reducing the weight and size of the formulation. (5) Compared to Europe and the United States, Japan's agricultural fields are small where many types of agricultural products are cultivated. In addition, due to the different climate conditions, the pressure from pests and diseases is high. It is necessary to recognize these different characteristics in Japan. (6) It is desirable that the innovations suitable for the Asian monsoon region are established, and then the government take the leadership and disseminate them to Asia. (7) In the future, by further introducing disease-resistant varieties, improving the accuracy of pest forecasting, and utilizing digital technology and smart agricultural technology, it will be possible to spray pesticides in a timely and appropriate amount, and thereby the amount of pesticides usage may be reduced to some extent. (8) It takes time and cost to develop chemical pesticides and new technologies associated pesticides. It also takes time and costs for farmers to introduce new technologies into the field. It is important for the government to support these activities so that these new chemical pesticides and new technologies can be used on the ground. Read less

The expression of views of the stakeholders on challenges and opportunities for sustainable food systems associated with the new strategy, “MeaDRI”.